Presidents Leadership Class
The Presidents Leadership Class (PLC) is a specially designed academic curriculum that focuses on leadership development, personal development, and community service initiatives. Skills are developed in an interdisciplinary, experiential environment through exposure to government, education, the humanities, business, and science. Students from all of the schools and colleges participate in the Presidents Leadership Class curriculum as a part of their regular course work.
The Presidents Leadership Class is a program of CU-Boulder and the Presidents Leadership Institute, and is overseen by a Board of Trustees representing the Colorado business, educational, nonprofit, and governmental communities.
Admission and Enrollment +
Admission to the Presidents Leadership Class is considered one of the highest honors awarded to incoming University of Colorado at Boulder students. Presidents Leadership Class scholars are admitted prior to the beginning of their first year. Selection criteria include academic excellence, a demonstrated commitment outside of self, demonstrated leadership potential, and uniqueness of contribution. Each year, 50 first-year scholars are enrolled, comprising both Colorado residents and nonresidents. A separate admission application must be obtained from the PLC office and returned prior to February 1. Applications may be obtained by visiting the website at www.presidentsleadershipclass.org or by calling the PLC office at 303-492-4PLC.
Only students who are accepted into the Presidents Leadership Class are eligible to enroll in PLC courses. Students receive arts and sciences core credit in ideals and values for PRLC 1810 Ethical Leadership, core credit in contemporary societies for PRLC 1820 Community Issues in Leadership, and core credit in upper-division critical thinking for LDSP 4010 Leadership Capstone.
Academic Program +
Although there are many unique aspects of each leadership situation, leaders generally follow three basic steps when faced with a leadership situation: 1) try to get a read on the existing situation, 2) set a strategy to achieve a desired outcome, and 3) execute the strategy.
This fundamental human process—read, set, execute—has strong roots in basic psychological processes (i.e., stimulus, thought, response), but the steps can happen with varying degrees of quality. Because PLC’s mission is to develop extraordinary leaders, it examined the differences in quality between the read-set-execute process ordinary leaders use and the read-set-execute process that extraordinary leaders use. Research determined that there are different routes to ordinary leadership and extraordinary leadership.
Extraordinary leaders need to read situations with insight, generate incisive strategy, and then execute with stunning results. The PLC Strategic Academic Plan is built upon developing six core leadership skills: information literacy, critical thinking, applied quantitative ability, writing, oratory, and group process. The six skills executed in an integrative manner provide the key fundamentals for scholars to read, set, and execute in an extraordinary manner.
For more information on the PLC Academic Plan and the research behind it, go to www.presidentsleadershipclass.org.
Required Courses:
PRLC 1810 Ethical Leadership
PRLC 1820 Community Leadership
PRLC 2810 Multilevel Leadership
PRLC 3810 Global Leadership
PRLC 4010 Leadership Capstone
University of Colorado at Boulder Leadership Certificate +
The University of Colorado at Boulder offers a certificate in the Study and Practice of Leadership. The certificate is comparable to a minor in leadership studies and is permanently marked on the student’s transcript to certify that he or she has completed a focus in leadership studies at the undergraduate level.
Certificate requirements are as follows:
| Complete a minimum of 12 credit hours of PRLC courses during year one and two of the program:PRLC 1810,PRLC 1820,PRLC 2820,PRLC 3810 | |
| Complete a minimum of 4 credit hours of upper-division PRLC course work:LDSP 4010. | |
| Complete 3 additional credit hours of approved upper-division course work outside of PLC. Approved courses are listed at www.colorado.edu/chancellorslrap/lcelectives.html and a student may also petition to have an unlisted course accepted. | |
| Participation in practica and/or internships. These may be built into courses or conducted outside of courses. | |
| Receive an overall 3.000 average GPA for all required Leadership Certificate courses. |
Scholarship Programs and Opportunities +
PLC scholars receive a merit-based scholarship of $1,000 to over $12,000 (dependent upon participation). Scholars must enroll in PRLC course work to maintain their scholarship.
Scholars are also eligible to be selected for a variety of other merit-based scholarships only available to PLC students, including the FirstBank Colorado Scholarship Fund (base scholarship of $6,000 plus additional funding depending on endowment earnings), the Alvin G. Flanigan Scholarship Fund (annual $1,000 minimum awards), the Walker Family Scholarship Fund (annual $500 minimum awards), the Michael Lee Hoelscher Memorial Scholarship (annual $2,000 award), the Jamie Hallum Memorial Scholarship (annual $2,000 award), and additional scholarships available only to the Presidents Leadership Class Scholars.
Faculty +
ANGELA THIEMAN-DINO, academic director. BA, MA, PhD, University of Colorado at Boulder.
